POOL A

Sandia Prep
Socorro
Raton
Robertson

POOL B

Bernalillo
Cuba
East Mountain
SF Indian

The championship game will be held at 2:15 PM.

Download the complete tournament schedule

The 2nd Annual RRHS/CHS VOLLEYBASH will be held at Rio Rancho High School on September 23-24, 2011. A field of top NM 5A/4A/3A volleyball teams will begin pool play at 10 A.M. at RRHS on Friday, September 23rd.

The Gold and Silver brackets will be held at Rio Rancho High School (Silver) & Cleveland High School (Gold) on Saturday September 24th.

Teams

The teams entered in this year’s Bash are:

• Gadsden High School (2010 5A Champion)
• Cleveland High School (2010 5A Runner-up)
• Rio Rancho High School (2010 5A Semi-finalist)
• Artesia High School (2010 4A State Champion)
• St. Pius X High School (2010 4A Runner-up)
• Moriarty High School (2010 4A State Qualifier)
• Santa Teresa High School (2010 4A State Qualifier)
• Pojoaque High School (2010 3A State Champion)

Pool Play

Download the Pool Play Schedule (PDF)

Brackets

Download the VolleyBash Brackets (PDF)

Admission

All Day Pass $5.00 Adults/Students $3.00/Children $1.00 (12 & under)
Gold & Silver Bracket Adults $5.00 (Tickets good for 2 matches in bracket play)
Students $3.00/Children $1.00 (12 & under)

St. Pius' Sara Weber

The annual Albuquerque Public Schools Metro Tournament, played over the course of four days, is set to kick off Tuesday at Volcano Vista High School and will feature some of the top teams in the state.

Defending champion Albuquerque Academy has started their season relatively strong, recording three wins at the Clovis tournament, but dropped their match at Los Alamos. The Chargers are one of the favorites again this year, but the volleyball landscape has changed drastically in Albuquerque since the 2010 campaign.

The biggest challenges will come from La Cueva and District 5-4A foe, St. Pius.

Starting off their season with a 3-1 victory over Cibola last week, St. Pius is a serious contender with talent throughout the squad. Senior OH Sara Weber spearheads the Sartan’s attack, and understands what it will take to earn the big win.

“I think as long as we keep up good communication on the court and work on moving the ball around on offense, we have a good chance of going all the way this year,” said Weber. “The competition is going to be pretty tough, we’re looking forward to some challenging games against La Cueva and Academy, but I think it’ll make for a really fun tournament.”

With the return of Julia Warren and Brandi Torr running the offense, La Cueva figures to be a headache for opposing teams. Ranked #3 in the latest NMHSCA poll, Warren is looking forward to the tournament and is approaching the competition with a workmanlike attitude.

“I think the Metro Tournament is going to be a really fun, challenging tournament. St. Pius, Academy, Eldorado and Sandia are really good teams; there’s going to be some really good competition, so we’re going to just go and play.”

No doubt defenses will focus on the monster outside hitter, but the Bears have a plenty of other offensive options.

La Cueva's Julia Warren

“People do camp out on me on the outside, but we have some really great hitters in Chloe (Crappell), and Symone (Green) and Emma (Barnes) in the middle,” said Warren. “If everyone can just contribute to getting five to six kills and it’s really evenly measured on the board, we can go far. We’re working on moving me around hitting some different balls and Brandi does a really good job mixing the sets, so it’s going to be really fun.”

Eldorado, Cibola and Sandia, the other 5A teams ranked in the Top 10 poll, will have their work cut out for them.

With the mass exodus of last year’s seniors, Eldorado will depend on Michelle Skinner, Karen Urbina and Megan Schnedar. Skinner, averaging three kills per game thus far, seems to be the Eagle’s most consistent weapon.

With the Moriarty tournament as a warm up, Sandia has two games and two victories under their belt, but I’m not sure if wins over Los Alamos and Texico will have the Matadors prepared.

Cibola rounds out the ranked 5A teams. I think the game and resulting loss to St. Pius last week is advantageous to the Cougars–it puts their goals and expectations in perspective. They’ve faced one of the top teams in the area and now they know what to work on.

 Schedule

Pool Play

Bracket

Download the Bracket (PDF)

With their Gatorade Player of the Year and All American sitting in the crowd and another hitter on the bench, the Panthers managed to best the Bulldogs in five sets, with a gutsy comeback, 19-25, 22-25, 29-27, 25-22, 17-15.

The championship match, pitting 2010 5A state champs against the 4A state champs, saw a tour-de-force offense in Artesia and a tenacious Gadsden squad battle it out in a memorable game.

In the first set, Artesia looked confident with Artesia’s Hannah Ballew racking up six kills. Gadsden handed the Bulldogs the set on a net violation and hitting error.

Artesia began set two on a 5-0 run, but Gadsden managed to battle back to tie it up at 13 apiece. Massive blocks from Artesia’s Elkins and Horner closed up the second set, 25-22.

The third set, one which neither team lead by more than two points, saw the momentum shift when Gadsden’s Rosen twice found the open floor with free balls behind the Artesia back row, forcing a Bulldog time out. Artesia returned to the match with a Ballew kill and service ace, but gave the ball back on a service error. Battling for the set and match, Rosen, along with two consecutive Bulldog hitting errors, kept the Panthers alive; Rosen was able to seal the deal on a dramatic kill giving Gadsden the set 29-27.

The final set was fraught with errors (seven hitting errors, six service errors between both teams). Artesia jumped to an early lead with two Panther errors and an Bulldog ace, but four touches and a bad set from Artesia gave Gadsden a chance to get back into the game. Cristal Quinones finished the Bulldogs off with a kill for the game, 17-15.

Overall, this was one of the most dramatic matches I’ve seen in some time. It’s always a treat to see Artesia play, and in spite of the loss, I would argue this is one of the best squads in the state. With players like Ballew, Elkins, Amy Horner and Kelli Richards, the Bulldogs will no doubt be a force to be reckoned with in the 2011 campaign. Accordingly, the Gadsden defensive game earned its stripes against Artesia; Nicole Enriquez proved why she’s one of the best liberos around.

While Veronica Rosen didn’t earn a spot on the All-Tournament team, she earned my vote for MVP of the championship game. Her performance throughout the match with her smart play and endurance, especially during the third set,  kept Gadsden in the game.

2011 All-Tournament team from left to right, Alexis Aguirre (Artesia), Jenna Elkins (Artesia), Hannah Ballew (Artesia), Marika Trujillo (Roswell), Diamond Morrell (Carlsbad), Nicole Enriquez (Gadsden), Allyson Lucht (Mayfield), Cristal Quiñones (Gadsden), Evelyn Hernandez (Gadsden)

Pool play is as follows:

Download Tournament Bracket

The championship bracket is set to play at Oñate High School, while the consolation bracket will be played at Mayfield.

Download the Championship Bracket

Download the Consolation Bracket

Keep your eye on 4A state champs Artesia, 5A state champs Gadsden and Carlsbad to lead the packs this year. Artesia has the goods to win it all with Ballew, Horner and Elkins in tow; this could be their tournament to lose.

There’s been a lot said about how Gadsden will fare without Castellanos, but as we know the season is still young and there’s plenty of talent on the Panther squad. The hitters they have in place, along with that scrappy defense, Gadsden will be up for the challenge.

Carlsbad has some big guns with seniors Niemeier, Edmondson, Muñoz and Morrill; expect them to do very well.

Finally, I like the potential match-ups with 3A schools in Silver and Hatch Valley; both ranked in the last coaches poll, 6th and 4th, respectively.

Elida Tigers - 2010 Class B Champions

Congrats to the Lady Tigers for earning the first ever Class B state championship, in their sweep of Grady (25-15, 25-15, 25-18).

Even though this new class is for the smaller schools, it doesn’t mean they play with less heart than the Gadsdens and Artesias.

Senior outside hitter Amanda Cross-Smith, Revis Smith and Kaylen Jasso all chipped in at the net to keep the Lady Bronchos at bay.

In set two, Grady made it interesting at the beginning of the match, going blow for blow with Elida, and even leading 8-6, but a pair of tricky Alanna Cross-Smith aces gave the Tigers the lead and they never looked back.

Set three was much the same, as Grady pulled ahead on several consective hitting errors from Elida, leading by as many as five points. The same errors that plagued the Tigers, reared their ugly heads to Grady; Elida got the go-ahead on a net violation, hitting error and a carry.

Grady gave the Tigers a great game, but in the end they couldn’t quite execute well enough. Losing Mandy Rush and Kaitlin Grau to graduation will be a minor setback to the Lady Bronchos, but with the likes of  Josy Sepulveda, Mackenzee Starbuck and Joan Lampley to build on the experience, expect Grady to be in the mix next season.

Great job, Elida!

Grady Lady Bronchos - 2010 Class B runner-up

2010 Class A Champs - Tatum Coyotes

Tatum put a stop to Ft. Sumner’s challenge the third set to win the Class A state title, 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 25-20 on Saturday afternoon.

I thought Tatum played well beyond their level in their win over the scrappy Vixens. Led by some incredible firepower in Devanne Sours and L’Deana Coffer, and some great hustle from middle Monica Rameriz, setter Jessica Rameriz and the entire back row, the Coyotes could not be denied.

Sours looks awfully mature as a hitter for only being a sophomore, and with Coffer the only player graduating, expect Tatum to have another great season in 2011.

Way to go Coyotes!

Texico wins their fifth 2A title

Texico, officially a dynasty at 2A, won their fifth consecutive title with a win over Tularosa, 25-7, 25-16, 26-24.

This year’s champion game, pitting last year’s finalists, was like déja vú all over again. Like I’ve seen so many times in year’s past, the Wolverines played a furious game.

Even with the likes of Hannah Syling, Ashley Porter and Dakota Rice, Texico was able to contain any offensive efforts the Wildcats could muster.

With Tularosa catching up in the third set, coach Scanlan and her squad never lost their composure; just a business-like and level-headed approach to getting the win.

I’m sure they’re already thinking about getting title No. 6.

Congratulations to the Wolverines.